Travelling Simply

Travel recommendations, ideas and observations from two simple travellers

Tag: Travel secrets

Visiting Croatia? Be sure to include Zagreb in your itinerary

14/07/2019 / / 0 Comments

We clear Croatian border control and follow our trusty GPS, acres of fields and pastures flanking us on both sides of the road. The signage is clear and we continue our leisurely pace enjoying the scenery.

We know we are close to the city as the traffic becomes heavier but are surprised when the GPS suddenly comes to life, reminding us that our turn is up ahead. Why are we surprised? We have booked to stay in the centre of the city and there is no sign of city life even though the GPS tells us we are only a couple of kilometres from our destination!

“You have arrived at your destination on your right”, says the confident voice of the GPS as we pull up in front of a small farmhouse in the middle of nowhere. The address list is retrieved from the bag. Yes, we have plugged in the right address! If all else fails, enter the GPS coordinates and this confirms our suspicions; we are still another 30 minutes from our destination!

The Croatian capital city, Zagreb, is often bypassed by travellers who are lured to the popular cities of Split and Dubrovnik and an island or two off the coast for the ultimate Croatian experience.

We second guess ourselves as we drive into the city passing row upon row of utilitarian apartment buildings from the communist era. The roads are wide and easy to navigate but there doesn’t seem to be any old-world charm in sight.

Early impressions are quickly dispelled when a turn or two later, we are in the heart of Donji Grad, Zagreb’s historic Lower Town. Our host, “call me Porchca” is waiting to guide us into the no access area and into the apartment’s private parking area. We are not disappointed by our choice of accommodation, it is a spacious and cosy apartment just metres away from cafes and restaurants and beautiful green spaces. Bustling Jelacic Square is only a few hundred metres further.

Our highlights (in no particular order):

  • Enjoying outdoor music and activity in Park Zrinjevac, a beautiful green space in the Lower Town and just metres from our apartment which has been transformed into a night festival with food stalls and live music. No crowds and very family-friendly.
Park Zrinjevac

Summer festival in Park Zrinjevac

  • Watching international performers entertain larger audiences with classical concerts and dancing on the main stage in Jelacic Square.
Jelacic Square, Zagreb, Croatia

Evening entertainment in Jelacic Square

  • A morning walk to the expansive Maksimir Park in the middle of Zagreb through the streets and local markets peeking into doorways and shops along the way. An opportunity to observe the people of Zagreb go about their daily business. We remember a lovely older woman stopping to make sure we were okay as we tried to reorientate ourselves in a marketplace. She spoke no English and us, no Croatian.
  • An afternoon exploring Gornji Grad (Upper Town), strolling along the almost empty cobblestone streets and similarly empty St Mark’s Square allowing us to appreciate the beautiful St Mark’s Church and its multi-coloured tiled roof.
St Mark's Church, St Mark's Square, Gornji Grad, Zagreb,Croatia

St Mark’s Church with its distinctive tiled roof

  • People watching around the vibrant Dolac fruit and vegetable market.
Dolac Markets, Zagreb

The wonderful array of fresh produce at the markets

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  • A visit to the Museum of Broken Relationships. Set in a baroque palace in the Upper Town. The brainchild of a couple who remained friends after their own relationship had broken down, the couple started collecting anonymous donations of relics from Zagreb residents whose relationships had suffered a similar fate and created this interesting concept. Sounds a little quirky but well worth a visit.

Museum of Broken Relationships, Zagreb, Croatia

For a capital city, Zagreb still maintains a small-town feel and without the usual summer crush of tourists, we were able to wander about the Lower and Upper Towns freely.

All in all our time in Zagreb was a greater pleasure than Split or Dubrovnik.

P.S. – Our recommendations:

Located in the heart of the Lower Town, Apartment Atrium Plaza was the perfect place to stay. Newly renovated, clean and spacious, within walking distance of all attractions, numerous dining options outside the secure compound and superb hosts.

Exploring the streets a short distance from Park Zrinjevac, we found a wonderful place to have dinner. Heritage serves traditional Croatian food in the form of street food. Their menu offers the opportunity to try dishes from all the regions in Croatians accompanied by local wines and craft beers.

Have a spare day to kill? Take a day trip to the charming city of Ljubljana in Slovenia only two hours away by car and about the same by train. Explore the old city known for its beautiful bridges, green spaces, lively marketplace and Romanesque architecture. Then, take a leisurely drive back to Zagreb on the back roads which wind through some of the most picturesque scenery we have seen in Europe.

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Toast the New Year in with Champagne!

28/12/2018 / / 0 Comments

The year is drawing to a close and we feel a sense of satisfaction for accomplishing our planned travel goals with a few unplanned journeys thrown in.

As we prepare to toast in a New Year, memories of a few special days in the Champagne region of France come to mind.

After a few days of seeing the city through Parisienne eyes and wandering the rues and boulevards of Paris, we collected our car to begin our road trip.

First stop is the city of Reims. The unofficial capital of the Champagne region in the northeast of France is the perfect place to base ourselves for a day or two to explore the region.

Reims is not only the centre of the Champagne. It is home to some architectural wonders, including the imposing Notre Dame Cathedral (where French kings came to be coronated), the beautiful City Hall, the Basilica St Remi and many admirable squares.

  • Reims Town Hall
    Reims Town Hall
  • The Basilica

Many of the regions Champagne houses including Taittinger and Mumm are headquartered in Reims and offer tastings at their cellar doors. Their houses are accessed through grand entrances and beautifully manicured gardens. An indication of the high esteem the French hold for champagne.

  • champagne-house

After admiring the city, we spend a couple of days exploring further afield.

Day 1 is a short 25km drive to Epernay, the home of the world’s highly acclaimed champagne houses.

  • Avenue de Champagne

On arrival, we find the streets deserted and not teeming with tourists as we had expected at the height of the European summer. It is lunchtime and everything apart from eating establishments are closed for lunch.

The Avenue de Champagne is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful streets we stroll along. Even more stunning when you have the street to yourself. We wander in and out of the grand champagne houses amidst beautiful grounds and gardens. These are the best champagne producers in the world!

  • Moet and Chandon
  • Moet and Chandon gardens
    The beautiful grounds of Moet and Chandon

We are disappointed at our first stop, the famous house of Moet and Chandon. The cellars are closed for refurbishment until after summer. We are directed a little further up the road to the House of Mercier. A partner of Moet and Chandon and owned by the LVMH group of companies, Mercier champagne is the most popular champagne in France. Eugene Mercier established his champagne house with the intention of making champagne readily available and affordable to all so that it was not only consumed for a special event but so it would become part of everyday occasions. The tour of the underground caves (18km long), on a laser-guided autonomous tram, provided an insight into champagne production, the different stages of the ageing process along with an added surprise – the remarkable basal reliefs that decorated the walls of the underground caves.

  • ageing wine
    The ageing process – inside the caves
  • mercier-tasting
  • champagne-barrel
    The huge champagne barrel which was carted through the streets of Paris to be displayed at the Paris Exhibition in 1889

Of course, the tour would not be complete with a tasting. We enjoyed tasting the “wine for the people” complete with a lesson on how to distinguish between the different varieties. Though not connoisseurs, and now having tasted both Moet and Mercier champagnes, we agreed, both were not dissimilar!

The day ended with a leisurely drive back to Reims through the vineyards around Verzenay.

Day 2 is a beautiful summer day to take a slow 30-minute drive along the backroads among grapevines and vineyards to Hautvillers, home of another vintage champagne, Dom Perignon. The roads are quiet and we wonder why we have the roads to ourselves, there is not another vehicle in sight. It appears that everyone else is in a hurry and prefers to take the motorway.

Dom Pérignon (1638–1715) was a monk and cellar master at the Benedictine abbey in Hautvillers, a quaint French village. His tomb is in the little Abbey and remains devoid of tourist traffic.

We wander through the village and along the narrow lanes to find picnic grounds at the top of the hill. The views over vineyards and down to the little village of Cumieres and the aqua waters of the River Marne are breathtaking. This is heaven.

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    Looking down the hill to Cumieres from Hautvillers

It is decided, we drive back to Reims via Cumieres on roads set amongst the vineyards and the gently sloping countryside through small champagne villages. The perfect end to a perfect day.

Our road trip had just started and we continued our journey through Burgundy, Provence, Bordeaux and the other wine producing regions of France. However, we will cherish our few days in Champagne.

If you are planning a visit to Paris and have a couple of spare days, take a short sojourn in the Champagne region, you will not regret it.

P.S.  A short champagne lesson:

Brut – 40% pinot noir, 45% another white wine, 15% Chardonnay, contains 9% sugar. Brut is aged for 2 years and is then ready to drink. It should not be kept for more than 3 years.

Rose – has red wine added.

Demi-Sec is much sweeter with up to 40% more sugar. It is a dessert wine.

Brut Reserve has more reserve wine added and the taste can change from year to year depending on the reserve added.

No year on the bottle – no vintage!

  • Mercier chanpagne tasting

Do you get tired of eating out when travelling?

28/11/2018 / / 0 Comments

One of the benefits of travelling independently is being able to choose where, when and what we are going to eat. No hotel buffet breakfasts, no dashing from the tour bus into the service station on the freeway for the obligatory 15-minute break to visit the bathroom and grab a quick lunch or themed dinners to attend. Instead, we take the many opportunities to sample local delicacies by visiting small cafes and restaurants that we come across during a day of wandering or eateries recommended by our apartment hosts.

Sometimes, when we are travelling for a long time, we tire of eating out. We crave for a simple meal without menus or waiters. Our solution is easy and always enjoyable and is easier when travelling in warmer climes.

Our favourite stops on our early morning walks are the vibrant daily markets found nearly everywhere we travel selling fresh fruit, vegetables, cheeses, poultry, meats and fish, freshly prepared meals.

  • Freshly prepared meals
    Freshly prepared meals in Nimes, France

In many countries, a visit to markets to purchase fresh ingredients for the days’ meals is an integral part of daily life. It’s lovely to see what the local people are buying and selling. The markets are more than that though. They play an important role in the community’s social life. Cast your eyes around any marketplace and you will see neighbours stopping to chat with each other, sitting down for a leisurely coffee together or simply sharing a joke with a stall holder.

  • markets
    The colourful morning market in Zagreb, Croatia

For us, visits to the markets are made more exciting when we decide that it is time to take a break from eating in restaurants. We can pretend for a short moment in time that we are part of this community. We are no longer bystanders or tourists taking snaps of mouth-watering food. We are on a mission like everyone else. What are we having for dinner tonight?

We’ll take a stroll around the stalls to decide (so much to choose from!) stopping at the various stalls to ask advice or taste test those local delicacies. When we’re ready, we take another turn around to make our purchases. We’ll select a good bottle of local wine, buy a selection of cheeses, olives, bread, fruits and other accompaniments.

  • Nimes markets

The next step is critical. Where are we going to enjoy our goodies?

Sometimes, our apartment will have a balcony where we can sit and enjoy an al fresco meal. However, the best meals are when we join the city dwellers who take their dinner out to the local park for a picnic.

  • Savouring French wine on a beautiful summer evening in Paris
  • palais-real
    Picnic in the park in front of the Palais Real in the centre of Madrid

Relaxing over our meal, often in front of a beautiful monument, listening to a small group of musicians or simply doing a little people watching is one most rewarding parts of our travels.

Travel’s a picnic! We recommend you try it on your next travel adventure.

On the way to the cemetery…

26/08/2018 / / 1 Comment

One of the things we love about travelling simply is meeting the people of the countries we visit. Travelling independently provides numerous opportunities to converse with locals, hear about their lives, their story, learn something new about their country and practice speaking their language.

An added benefit is arranging your own travel itinerary. We like to detour from mainstream tourist attractions to find our own small attractions and make the visit more memorable.

  • tiber river

We had taken a morning walk along the Tiber River in Rome, through the Rose Garden to take a peep through the keyhole on the Aventine Hill and decided to continue on to the Protestant Cemetery which is only a few kilometres from the Colosseum. We had found our way there on a previous visit and were keen to go back to the graveyard.

Wandering down the Hill, dazzled by the magnificent view through the keyhole (it was a clear, sunny morning and the view was magnificent), we became disorientated and wondered if we were going the right way. We are old hands in Rome and had come out without our map!

It is early and the streets are deserted. We stand at the fork of the road pondering on whether we need to turn left or right when we spot a man leisurely strolling down the hill puffing on his pipe, a beautiful golden retriever in tow.

We approach. He looks at us amusingly as we try our hand at asking him in Italian if we are going the right way. He stuns us with his reply. Not only is it in perfect English, but it is his accent which raises our curiosity!

None of us are in a hurry. We stand on the street corner as he takes pleasure in telling the story of his life. It is not extraordinary, an Italian, now retired who studied, lived and work in our home town, has children who live in our country which he visits every year but loves the life in Italy. It turns out that we have more in common than we thought.

Half an hour later he walks down the hill with us, tells us we are heading in the right direction as we part ways. The cemetery is less than five minutes away.

We spend an hour meandering through the cemetery stopping at the gravestones to read and reflect on the lives of the non-Catholic who lived and died here. The cemetery was established in the early 1700’s so there is a lot of history here on the life of the expatriate community in Italy. We only walk through a small section to ensure we come back again on a future visit.

Our visit is not complete without visiting a special part of the cemetery set a little aside in a tranquil garden, the final resting places of the British poets Keats and Shelley.

A lovely morning spent away from the chaos of Rome making new memories with a stranger.

  • keats tombstone
    Tombstone of John Keats

Footnote: You’ll find the Protestant Cemetery next to the Pyramid of Caius Cestius. The entrance is tucked away on Via Caio Cestio. Entrance is free, however, donations for the upkeep of the cemetery are accepted through a donation box at the entrance.

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